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APRIL 7, 2017 | Vol. 30 No. 42
KAMLOOPS THIS WEEK FRIDAY
VIMY RIDGE
A DEFINING MOMENT
APRIL 9 - APRIL 12, 1917 JESSICA WALLACE STAFF REPORTER jessica@kamloopsthisweek.com
T
he ground to be covered was pockmarked by shell holes from three months of systematic artillery fire. The result was a vast expanse of small lakes linked up by the rims of shell craters. The 72nd Battalion Seaforth Highlanders of Canada were given the left flank of the attack, a most dangerous position where they would be exposed to enfilade fire. Easter Monday, April 9, 1917, found the 72nd settled down in Gobron Tunnell near the front where they were supplied with hot soup and sandwiches just prior to the attack. At 5:00 a.m., they filed from the tunnel and into the waiting trenches. The weather was bad, a combination of sleet and snow which fortunately blew toward the enemy lines. At 5:30 a.m., protected by a tremendous artillery barrage, the Canadians, with the 72nd on the left, moved out, weaving their way through a maze of shell holes, some 20 to 30 feet across and six to seven feet deep. On the 72nd Battalion front, two heavy
mines were blown under the first German line and this was taken before the enemy could recover. Meanwhile, Lt. Desmond Vicars left with a small handful of men on special mission to outflank the Germans’ second line. Even though most of his men had become casualties, Lt. Vicars, Sgt. J. McWhinney and Cpl. H. Matthews proceeded to attack the 400-yard length of German trench. — Vicars’ family records **** Desmond Vicars didn’t talk much about the war. His boys knew he was a good shot from their hunting excursions together and they knew his caved-in chest was the result of a battle wound that nearly killed him — but otherwise, it was largely a “no-go subject.” “On the other hand, us kids didn’t ask,” said Tom Vicars, the 67-year-old son of the First World War hero. “We just didn’t pay attention. Simple and easy. Now, at this point in life, I’d like to pepper him with all sorts of stuff. It doesn’t mean he would say a lot.
“Think of it. At 19, you go through those things, you see all that, I’m sure you’re somewhat scarred. He didn’t show it. But I’m sure there’s times where you’d wake up in the middle of the night and think, you know, how lucky I am to even be alive. Let alone everything else that came with it.” About 3,600 Canadians died a century ago during the battle of Vimy Ridge, including 12 men from Kamloops. The iconic battle during the First World War is a point of national pride, marking the first time all four divisions of the Canadian Corps fought as one formation. Then-19-year-old Desmond was among the lucky to return home to Kamloops. On Nov. 17, 1917, he became the youngest officer to receive the Distinguished Service Order (D.S.O.), an honour rarely seen among his rank and second only to the Victoria Cross. “He would have had to do something very, very special,” local war historian Jeff Lodge told KTW. The D.S.O. medal is behind glass in Desmond’s former house, which is on a street bearing his family’s name in Valleyview.
DESMOND VICARS
CONTINUED ON PAGES A14 AND A15
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